for Leaders in an Uncertain World

When I was doing my PhD in Artificial Intelligence it used to be said that ‘it takes 17 +/- 3 years’ for ideas or research to move from academia to marketplace. It would seem that the same equation holds for the advanced ideas to be revisited again in the public life. Trouble is that while in technology and IT we can see the impact of their implementation from the results in the marketplace, when it comes to UK Government (Labour as well as Conservative) and Civil Service of the day (Central / Whitehall as well as Local Government) it remains at the level of rhetoric.

So, the enclosed article summarises Norman’s ideas from as long ago as early 1980’s. Now, almost 25 years later, one can quote major parts word for word and the reader could be forgiven for thinking they are newly written. Try the two excerpts below:

Mr Norman Strauss behaves similarly with ideas, packing more into one lecture than others would use during a year. On occasion, there is a need for interpretation. That is, I believe true of his recent speech on constitutional reform.

It starts from the well-worn, but topical, theme that the complexity and difficulty of modern government are setting a task clearly beyond the current system. He therefore identifies, as I would, what is essentially a management problem in the broadest sense. “Productivity and efficiency can apply just as much to ideas about improving central government as they can to say, the health service.

and immediately after:

Norman Strauss’s worry is that information and technology seem to be outgrowing the competence of governments to manage them and at the same time to provide adequate satisfaction for citizens and maintain their trust. This is happening in an age when demands for information for knowledge and for participative democracy are becoming strident. Here is the first new twist in the argument. Mr Strauss believes that “some issues are now so complex that leaders must no longer be allowed to monopolise facts, knowledge and resources. This is especially true when higher standards of education coupled with the information revolution make it possible for those with special expertise, interests or insights to comment on what is happening and to do so for the wider benefit of society”.

In Mr Strauss’s view, this goes beyond freedom of information legislation, in suggesting a fundamental change in structures and organization. He sees the new technologies as giving the possibility for the government to make available not only the facts it possesses, but also insight into its thinking, analysis. decisions and strategy.

So, compare the above with the rather simplistic NHS Report changes and the laughably pedestrian, actually downright dangerous measures and one-dimensional, targets still applied for measuring progress in spite of the unprecedented technological advances. Yet, the powers that be are closed to listening. This applies as much to the professionals with vested interests however good their intentions, as it does to politicians in Government. Worse still, the Opposition is even more blinded having learnt nothing from the Thatcher years!

About

NORMAN STRAUSS
Norman Strauss spent 20 years with Unilever and Lever Brothers in the UK and Canada. During 1976, he began advising the Conservative Party and its think-tank – the Centre for Policy Studies. In 1977 he correctly forecast the latent decline in trade union power. He detailed strategies for shadow ministers to test his hypothesis, which subsequently became fact and laid the foundations for the trade union reforms that have subsequently been embraced by the new Labour Party.

In 1979, Sir Keith Joseph requested his secondment from Unilever, to work as a civil servant in No 10 Downing Street. He has in-depth experience of how a multinational company works, how Whitehall works, how a political party works and, most importantly, how they can inter-relate. He has lectured at the Civil Service College on the need for reform in the future management of government and maintains a lifelong interest in radical policy-making.

He worked in No 10 Downing Street from 1979 to 1982 as a member of Mrs Thatcher’s first Policy Unit. His wide-ranging experience in strategic leadership is unique, as he spent some years devising policy for and advising the then Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers and the No 10 Policy Unit.

In 1982 he designed and named the first ever Strategic Leadership Programme, to be run at Templeton College, Oxford. It celebrated its 30th programme in November 1997. It was taken to Australia in 1989 where he regularly lectured. He has been an Associate Fellow of Templeton College and both helped to design and speak on many tailored programmes, for such companies as IBM, P&O, Royal Mail and BT.

He is also a personal adviser and consultant on leadership, strategy, policy, innovation and culture change. He quite deliberately splits his time between the practical and the theoretical so that he can evolve and prove new MetaTools® and leading edge techniques for a complex and uncertain world. Much of this work is incorporated into the new Thinkubator® and Growth Tank® ( a growth-seeking think-tank) services for blue-chip multinationals and public services, offered by Corporate Positioning Services ( C-P-S ) where he is now chairman.

As a Governor of Imperial College, London University, from 1981 to 1989, he took a special interest in how scientific and technological discoveries generate new ventures. He has been a director of Imperial Software Technology, a joint University and Industry collaborative venture.

In 1990, he was a co-founder of Intellectual R & D – with Sir Douglas Hague, Peter Hennessy and Martin Jacques – which ran the annual Stimulus 2000 series of scenario-scoping programmes and advises on change management at the leading edge, where complex systems leadership is the norm. Their advice is available to all Thinkubator® clients. Both Martin Jacques and Sir Douglas Hague, who is president of C-P-S, are trustees of the DEMOS political think-tank and sit on its Advisory Council.

At present he is concentrating most of his time on developing new approaches to Corporate, Institutional and Governmental Strategic Leadership and the required competencies, structures and approaches for achieving success in turbulent times.

DR. LILLY EVANS

Lilly and Norman have worked together since 1994 on various aspects of dynamic systems leadership development. She is an internationally known business transformation consultant, change expert, strategic management and marketing adviser, lecturer, mentor and coach to tomorrow’s leaders of today’s companies.

A selection of Lilly’s assignments:

• Guided transformation of implementation consultancy into desirable takeover target for USA rival with client CEO retaining European Head position.

• Engaging initially unwilling clients in open group conversations leading to breakthrough actions.

• Bringing new approach to business integration in transitional situations in EMEA through application of ICT and HR approaches that accelerate building commitment and taking responsibility by stakeholders.